Asking prices see biggest year-on-year rise since 2007

Asking prices are continuing to rise as the market improves and new figures show that, in January, prices saw their biggest year-on-year increase since 2007.

According to telegraph.co.uk, the figures from property website Rightmove have highlighted how rising prices might not be so good for buyers, as they’re increasingly being forced into the three per cent stamp duty bracket. This is because the average house price in January rose to £251,964 in England and Wales. If a property costs £250,000 or under, buyers only have to pay one per cent of the property’s sale price in stamp duty.

Homes across the country are now worth 6.9 per cent more than they were a year ago and properties in London have rocketed in price by 11.2 per cent. This means an average home in the capital now costs £541,313, reports independent.co.uk.

Miles Shipside, director of Rightmove, said that although house prices are rising at a rapid pace, he doesn’t believe a bubble will occur.

“The shortage of properties on the market and pent up buyer demand is helping to push prices over that £250,000 level,” he explained. “It does mean that moving is more expensive, so as well as higher prices, more buyers are now having to pay additional stamp duty as well.”

Despite the shortage of homes, more properties started to appear on the market last month. The report notes that the number of new properties listed on the Rightmove website rose 18 per cent compared to the same period last year, meaning that 27,768 more homes were available for purchase in January.

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